5 Steps to Launch Your Teenage Entrepreneur

I should have known I had an entrepreneur on my hands. When one of our boys could hardly print, he wanted to start a dog walking business. He crafted a crayon-laden sign for our back gate.

Hi. I want to walk your dog. Please knock. If we are home, come in. If we are not, go away.

Short and to the point, no?

Just a few years later this happened….

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“Mom. I need it to snow NOW!” my fourteen-year-old complained. To me. Loudly.

Of course I am responsible for all things including the weather. Since I answer to Mom.

He wasn’t desperate to go skiing or toboganning – he was desperate to earn some money. He stared longingly out the window, shovel waiting patiently on the porch. Our mild Canadian winter had epically failed him. It was time for a new plan.

Luckily for my son, I already had a business idea that had been simmering. Here are the steps I took to launch my teenage entrepreneur.

Launch Your Teenage Entrepreneur

Step 1: Call an Official Business Meeting

Me: Since the weather is mild, I wonder if you would like to clean vehicles for moms.
Him (without hesitation): I think that would be awesome.
Me: Good. Let’s chat about this more after my shower.
[5.2 minutes later]
Me (calling to an empty house): Hello?

Turns out my entrepreneur was already door-knocking in the neighbourhood, shop vac in hand. Gotta give teenagers credit – they often have courage the rest of us lack.

But we hadn’t discussed pricing yet and I’m not even sure he had ever cleaned a vehicle before. His ambition led to one job, but overall people were skeptical when he showed up at their doorstep doing cold calls.

Step 2: Ask the Right Questions

The strength of entrepreneurs is often jumping into action. They need people on the sidelines to help them narrow down details and parameters. This is even more true when working with teenagers.

After this disappointing launch, I called our second business meeting to hammer out more details:

Would he only clean vehicles in our immediate neighbourhood?

Would I need to drive him to jobs and pick him up?

What supplies would he need?

How would he learn to do achieve high customer satisfaction?

What should he charge for his service?

Step 3: Name Your Price

Any teenage entrepreneur starts seeing dollar signs at the hint of a new business plan. It is the Momanager’s job to help them set realistic pricing for their services or product.

We researched professional car cleaning businesses in the area to see what experts charged, and what was included. Since he was starting off with basic vacuuming and polishing, the price needed to reflect that (plus his experience of having cleaned exactly 1 vehicle previously)

I turned to a facebook group for moms. I gave them a description of the service my teen wanted to offer and ask what they thought he should charge. Moms truly rock! Here are some comments from the initial post:

I need to hire your son. So good to hear about a teenager with initiative.

This is the best business idea I’ve heard in a long time. He will come to my house? And rid my van of Cheerios while my children nap? Yes please.

And on and on. The virtual support was overwhelming and they helped us establish a fair price point.

Step 4: Gather Supplies

Since my husband has been detailing his own vehicle for {ahem} a long time, he took over this part of the business plan. He got Ayden set up with everything he needed to do the job right. We already had most supplies on hand, and a quality Shop Vac. After a few hands-on tutorials, our entrepreneur was ready.

Step 5: Find Clients

Research and planning needs customers and clients. We spread the word to friends and family to get a few appointments lined up. This gave him necessary practice since Grandpas are very forgiving of the steep learning curve.

Since many facebook groups won’t allow self-promotion, we waited for a “shout out” from someone in the group. One Mom gave Ayden’s business a rave review and urged other moms to hire our son.

An hour later, there were 62 moms wanting to book a car cleaning.

So if you need me, I’ll probably be out chauffeuring my teenage entrepreneur.

What have you done to empower your kids to make money? Looking for fresh ideas to launch the next 3 kids…

Work is awesome for teenagers! It teaches them real life skills, like exchanging their time for money
that isnt given from their parents! Thats a real world life skill. Earning their keep and contributing to their own economy. Well done Ayden! And well done Karen for highlighting great ideas to get the teens off the x-box and into the real world through becoming self employed.

Thanks so much, Gillian. I knew how much having a job in high school meant to me, but it is even more rewarding to watch the lessons my kids are learning from their own ventures. Boy #2 is tutoring now – which suits his strengths completely. It’s a matter of showing them opportunities…and them being open to ideas!

Karen Gauvreau would squeeze her four-baby-body into a cheerleader's uniform for you to know someone is rooting for you as a Mom - cartwheeling for your victories and offering a pep talk when you feel pummelled. If you laugh in the process, even better.